''Minaselates paradoxa'' is a species of air-breathing land snail, a

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the subfamily

Epiphragmophorinae Epiphragmophorinae is a subfamily (biology), subfamily of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Xanthonychidae (according to the Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005 ...

. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Minaselates Cuezzo & Pena, 2017. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=991577 on 2021-02-25 It is the sole representative of the

monospecific In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus ''Minaselates'', described from the Cavernas do Peruaçu National Park in southeastern Brazil.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

''Minaselates'' is a

genus erected to harbor ''Minaselates paradoxa'', and one of the seven genera currently included in the family

Epiphragmophoridae Epiphragmophorinae is a subfamily of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Xanthonychidae (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). This family has no subfamilies. ...

. It is apparently closely related to the genus '' Epiphragmophora'', but its shell can be distinguished by the protoconch sculpture, outline of the apex, complex

teleoconch The gastropod shell is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium storage. Some ...

microsculpture and closed umbilicus fused with the shell wall. Regarding the soft parts, the presence of a long and thin kidney that extends more than half the length of the pulmonary cavity, as well as a flagellar caecum and a smooth jaw also distinguish ''Minaselates'' from ''Epiphragmophora''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q30682476 Xanthonychidae Gastropods described in 2017 Monotypic gastropod genera